Experts are researching the use of brain implants to treat medical conditions — but they can alter the way patients see the world in potentially dangerous ways

GettyImages 933891294Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images

  • Deep brain stimulation is a medical procedure that inserts an implant into the brain. This implant can alter neural activity, in an effort to treat neural dysfunction. 
  • In the past, patients have experienced a change in perception and hallucinations with the implant in place. 
  • If the implant can control a person’s behaviour to an extent, this raises questions over whether or not the person is wholly responsible for their actions. 

Mr. B loves Johnny Cash, except when he doesn’t. Mr. X has watched his doctors morph into Italian chefs right before his eyes.

The link between the two? Both Mr. B and Mr. X received deep brain stimulation (DBS), a procedure involving an implant that sends electric impulses to specific targets in the brain to alter neural activity. While brain implants aim to treat neural dysfunction, cases like these demonstrate that they may influence an individual’s perception of the world and behavior in undesired ways.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

NOW WATCH: How to stop your Facebook friends from giving away your data

See Also:

SEE ALSO: I cut back on sugar, and this is the best advice I can give you if you want to do the same

Post Author: martin

Martin is an enthusiastic programmer, a webdeveloper and a young entrepreneur. He is intereted into computers for a long time. In the age of 10 he has programmed his first website and since then he has been working on web technologies until now. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of BriefNews.eu and PCHealthBoost.info Online Magazines. His colleagues appreciate him as a passionate workhorse, a fan of new technologies, an eternal optimist and a dreamer, but especially the soul of the team for whom he can do anything in the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.